A great feature on a number of courses I grew up playing was simply, "The Bell".
The Bell was located in blind hollows, and were to be rung as players were leaving that area to let the group behind know that all was clear.
The first Bell hole I ever played was the 6th at Scranton Municipal course, a James Harrison/Fred Garbin design, where one drove over a blind ledge to a blind landing area on a midlength par four. Near the bottom of the hill, one would need to ring a bell once approach shots were played and golfers moved out of range.
Years later another was installed on the par four 14th, which had a similar blind landing area.
A great one I played some time later was the short, blind, downhill par four 6th hole (must be something about 6th holes!) at Wilkes Barre Municipal by Geoffrey Cornish/William Robinson, where golfers would often wait til they left the green and were on their way to the 7th tee, as the hole was just over 300 yards and driveable under the right 1970s conditions.
The recent Pete Dye GC thread got me thinking about them, and wondering why this feature is so rarely used these days. From that thread, this wonderful picture;
So, does anyone have other examples of existing Bells? Other devices which help alert players of when they can safely hit, like big mirrors up in trees?
Where did these devices go? Have they been litigated out of use?
They certainly had a charm to them.